National Library of Latvia

The National Library of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka) is a national cultural institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture of Latvia. Its current main building is known as the Castle of Light (Latvian: Gaismas pils).[Note 1] The National Library of Latvia was formed in 1919 after the independent Republic of Latvia was proclaimed in 1918. The first supervisor of the Library was Jānis Misiņš, a librarian and the founder of the Latvian scientific bibliography (1862–1945). The current building was designed in 1989 by noted Latvian-American architect Gunnar Birkerts (1925–2017), who immigrated to the United States and made his career there. It was constructed in the early 21st century and opened in 2014. Today, the Library plays an important role in the development of Latvia's information society, providing Internet access to residents and supporting research and lifelong education.

New building

The first discussions about the need for a new National Library began as early as 1928, and the significance of the project of this century was confirmed by high-level international recognition of the value of its collections. In 1999 almost all 170 UNESCO member states adopted a resolution during its General Conference, calling on member states and the international community to ensure all possible support for the implementation of the NLL project.

The continuous growth of the Library had made it necessary to transfer parts of its stock into other buildings. By 1988 NLL had its holdings distributed among five locations in Riga. Furthermore, since 1996, some holdings of rarely used books had to be stored in a repository in Silakrogs [lv] outside the capital, in a former Soviet missile bunker. The Silakrogs repository is still in use.

The Parliament finally authorized a new building to be constructed on the left bank of the Daugava River. On 15 May 2008, after discussions lasting for many years, the newly established state agency New 'Three Brothers' (Jaunie "Trīs brāļi", J3B)[Note 2] and the Union of National Construction Companies signed the contract on the construction of the new building for the National Library of Latvia. On 18 May 2014, the main facility of the Library at Krišjāņa Barona iela was closed for the move.

In 2008, construction started according to the design of noted Latvian-American architect Gunnar Birkerts, who had been based in the Detroit, Michigan area since the early 1950s. He had been commissioned to design the building in 1989. He was inspired by the Castle of Light and Glass Mountain from Latvian mythology.

The new building has thirteen floors and is sixty-eight metres high. Construction costs were given as 193 million euros. 480 people work there.

As part of Riga's programme for its title as European Capital of Culture, selected holdings were symbolically carried from the old to the new building by a human chain on 18 January 2014. The new building was finally opened on 29 August that year, the Library's 95th anniversary.

Today the NLL building is a dominant landmark on the Riga cityscape. It has space for conferences and conventions, and other community events. Among others, it hosted the 4th summit of the EU's Eastern Partnership programme in May 2015, and a debate chaired by the BBC's Jonathan Dimbleby on 14 March 2016.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "National Library of Latvia" and modified on February 6, 2025 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.